


arrival to eeby deeby

by buoyantsaturn



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Hiccups, M/M, Sign Language, nico & will & rachel friendship superior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29667045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: Rachel gave Nico a push toward Will. “Make him shut up.”Will frowned, because Nico definitely wasn’t making any noise, so he didn’t see what the problem was.Then, it happened.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Rachel Elizabeth Dare & Will Solace
Comments: 25
Kudos: 173





	arrival to eeby deeby

**Author's Note:**

> hey uhhhh didn't pay attention to class today but it's a boring class anyway so whatever.  
> thanks liz and eli for helping me title this even though i went with leaf's title instead thank u leaf  
> enjoy! this is a joke fic

Will was laying in a sunny patch of grass outside the infirmary. It was one of those rare moments when he didn’t have any patients and actually got to relax for once while all of his siblings were off at one of their activities. 

He was debating heading back inside to find the community iPod that had been left behind a few years ago that all the children of Apollo had decided to share, when something suddenly blocked his sunlight. Will opened his eyes to find Rachel and Nico standing over him, both looking grumpier than they had when Will last saw them a few hours ago. 

Will propped himself up on his elbows and asked, “What’s up?” 

Rachel gave Nico a push toward Will. “Make him shut up.” 

Will frowned, because Nico definitely wasn’t making any noise, so he didn’t see what the problem was. 

Then, it happened.

Nico  _ squeaked. _

His shoulders jumped with the sound, and his face burned red. 

“Oh my gods,” Will said, pushing himself up further until he was sitting in the grass. “That was  _ adorable.” _

“It’s  _ not,” _ Nico and Rachel argued at the same time. 

“It’s torture!” Nico complained, and hiccuped again.

“He’s driving me crazy!” Rachel added. “I let him hang out because I wanted some quiet company while I painted, but he won’t stop hiccuping!” 

Will picked himself up off the ground and brushed off his shorts. “How long has this been going on for?” 

Nico shrugged, or maybe his shoulders just shook again from the force of another hiccup. 

“At least an hour,” Rachel answered for him. “I just couldn’t stand it anymore, and I mean, this is a medical issue, isn’t it? Can you fix this?” 

“Um.” Nico squeaked pitifully, and his arms tightened across his chest. “Yeah, I’m sure I can figure something out,” Will told her. 

Rachel nodded her head once. “Great. I’m gonna try to go finish the painting I was working on, but I’ll meet up with you guys sometime later, okay?  _ After _ Squeaky over here stops squeaking.” 

“Don’t call me Squeaky!” Nico shouted, and then released the loudest, highest-pitched unrestrained hiccup that caused Nico to snap his jaw shut and slap a hand over his mouth. As his face grew to an even brighter shade of red, Will had to force himself not to laugh.

“Alright, I’ll take care of it,” Will assured them both as he held a hand out for Nico to take. “See you, Rachel.” 

Will led Nico up the steps to the Big House and into the separate infirmary door, taking him over to one of the empty cots. As Nico sat down, Will pulled over a stool and sat in front of him. “So, what were you doing when the hiccups started?” Will asked.

Nico shrugged, seeming unwilling to open his mouth lest another massive hiccup escape.

“You’re gonna have to talk sooner or later,” Will told him, but Nico simply shook his head in response. He hiccuped quietly, and glared down at his lap. “Okay, so, you know how Star Wars takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far away? But then Star  _ Trek _ takes place in the future, so--”

Nico groaned, cutting him off. “Gods, Will, not  _ again.” _

Will grinned. “It worked, didn’t it?”

“I don’t want to  _ talk _ because the big loud ones are starting to  _ hurt--” _ Nico’s jaw snapped shut again, and he winced with his next hiccup.

“Do you want to write, instead?” Will suggested, and Nico thought about it for a second before shaking his head. That was probably for the best, since neither of them could read or write very well due to their dyslexia. Will hummed. “You could try signing, but I’m a little rusty, so you’d have to go slow.” 

Nico’s chin dipped down as he squeaked again, and Will grinned. “Was that a  _ yes, _ or a hiccup?” 

Nico glared. 

“Alright, I’m sorry,” Will said. “Okay, so, what were you doing when the hiccups started?” 

Nico shrugged. He held up one hand, his palm facing toward him, and raised two fingers on his other hand, pointing at his palm from fingertip to wrist. 

Will frowned as he thought. “Reading?” Nico nodded. “You weren’t eating or drinking?”

Nico shook his head, then his hands were moving rapidly, switching from fingerspelling to signing.  _ Rachel was painting. I was reading. _

“I thought she said you were keeping her company,” Will remembered. “How were you keeping her company if you were both ignoring each other?” 

Nico rolled his eyes in response, which Will took to mean,  _ you wouldn’t get it. _

“Okay, what have you tried to get rid of your hiccups?” Will asked.

Nico mimed drinking from a glass, then took a deep breath and puffed out his cheeks. Drinking water and holding his breath, Will guessed, which were the first cures on his own mental list. He poked at Nico’s cheek like he was popping a bubble, and Nico’s cheeks deflated. “Okay, I might have to ask around for some other ideas, then, because I only have so many. Have you tried, um...not thinking about it?” 

Nico stared at him blankly.

“Yeah, okay, stupid idea,” Will replied. He got to his feet and Nico followed him with his eyes. “Alright, I think I heard once that you should lay upside down to get rid of hiccups, so… Try that.” 

Nico frowned in confusion and started to lay on the cot with his feet by the pillow and his head at the foot of the bed.

“No, sorry, like this,” Will said, and sat down on the next cot over. He hooked his knees around the edge of the bed and laid across it with his head hanging over the other side. After a few seconds, Nico mirrored his position, and Will snorted. “Your hair looks funny.” He righted himself and observed Nico for a few moments, during which Nico hiccuped three times.

Nico glared at him as if to say,  _ this isn’t working. _

“Just hang on for a few more minutes, you little vampire bat. I’m gonna see if that ancient computer in the Big House will load Google.” 

Will left Nico laying there to run into the Big House, and after a short eternity, he managed to load a webpage with supposed hiccup cures. He jotted down a quick list of the most plausible ideas before returning to the infirmary, where Nico was sitting up on the cot.

“Why’d you get up?” Will asked. “I know it wasn’t working, but none of these are gonna work  _ immediately.” _

Nico uncrossed his arms and held his hands over his stomach, his index fingers pointing at each other.  _ Hurt. _ That was a sign Will was definitely familiar with. 

“Oh. Sorry,” Will said, joining him on the cot. “Hopefully one of these will work, then. I ignored anything that mentioned scaring, because neither of us need an accidental panic attack or stabbing today.”

Nico nodded in agreement. 

“Okay, let’s get started.” 

After an hour, they’d exhausted Will’s list. Nico had tried breathing into a paper bag, but got lightheaded, so Will had him stop. He gargled with water, which resulted in Nico hiccuping and inhaling a bit of water, causing him to choke. He ate a spoonful of sugar, and then had to down a full glass of water to get the painful sweetness out of his mouth. If the sugar had cured the hiccups, then the water brought them right back. 

Nico was beyond frustrated, and Will was starting to side with Rachel on the  _ cute vs. annoying _ hiccup debate. At one point, Will had left the infirmary with a huff, leaving Nico to think he’d finally gotten sick of helping, but he’d returned with a jar of peanut butter and a spoon, practically force-feeding Nico the sticky substance. 

“If this doesn’t work, we might be trying experimental surgery,” Will told him as he angrily crossed the last few attempts off on his list. 

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Nico replied, having given up on not speaking somewhere around the time that Will had suggested he pull on his tongue. He licked his spoon clean of peanut butter, and the two boys waited with bated breath for a few silent moments until…

_ Hic! _

Nico fell back against his pillow with a groan, and Will buried his face in his hands. 

“Go get the scalpel,” Nico told him in full seriousness.

Will nudged Nico to make room, and laid down beside him on the cot. “I’m not cutting you open. There’s gotta be  _ something _ we haven’t tried.” 

“Death?” Nico suggested. “Haven’t tried dying yet.”

“I’ll put that at the bottom of the list.” 

“Maybe I can bribe Thanatos into taking me before my time. It would be humane. A mercy killing.” 

He hiccuped right next to Will’s ear, causing the healer to flinch. 

Wait, what did he say? A bribe?

Will got off the bed and crossed the room to Kayla’s desk. 

“I’m not eating any more peanut butter,” Nico called after him. 

Will dunked his hand into the infirmary’s swear jar, fishing beneath the American and Canadian currency for one of the drachmas at the bottom of the jar. He brought it back to Nico and offered the money to him. 

“What am I supposed to do with that?” Nico asked.

“Take it,” Will told him. “I’m buying your hiccups from you.” 

“You’re  _ what?”  _

“If it doesn’t work, you can put this toward your mercy killing fund.” Will picked up one of Nico’s hands and placed the coin in his palm. “There. I bought your hiccups.” 

Nico blinked. He took a breath. They waited in silence.

“Okay, what the  _ fuck?” _

“It actually worked?” Will asked, laughing in disbelief.  _ “That _ worked?”

Nico waved his arms between them. “What the fuck!”

Will pulled him in for a kiss, his hands on Nico’s cheeks and his smile brighter than the sun. “I’m letting those slide because there’s no kids around, and I’m worried that if you put that coin back in the swear jar your hiccups will come back, but watch your language, darling.” 

Nico shoved the drachma at Will’s chest. “Take it back.” 

“What? No,” Will replied. 

“This is freaking me out, take it back!” 

“Do you  _ want _ your hiccups to come back?”

“Well,  _ no, _ but--” 

“Then keep your money!” Will closed his hands around Nico’s to keep the coin between his fingers. “I bought your hiccups fair and square. No take-backs!” 

Nico was watching Will with wide eyes. “What the fuck is happening?” 

Will rolled his eyes and pulled Nico to his feet. “Alright, I think it’s time for a change of scenery. Let’s go find Rachel and see if she finished her painting yet.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!  
> sorry rachel's probably pretty ooc :// im working on it


End file.
